Saturday 22 October 2016

Mini Apple Pies (Eggless)

Mini Apple Pies 


Recipe adapted from Padhuskitchen


Ingredients:

For short crust pastry:
Maida - 1/2 cup 
Unsalted butter (ice cold and cubed) - 45 grams
Ice water - 2 tablespoons
Salt - a pinch 
Sugar - 1/2 tsp

For the Filling:
Apples - 1 (small, firm textured apple)
Lemon juice - 1/4 tsp (a few drops) 
Brown Sugar - 1/4 cup
Cinnamon powder - 1/2 tsp
Nutmeg powder - 1/4 tsp
Salt - a pinch
Maida -1/2 tbsp
Butter - 1/2 tsp



Method:

For the short crust pastry:
1. In a chilled bowl add maida, salt and sugar and whisk well. 2. Add chilled butter cubes to the flour mixture. Using your finger tips, rub or squash each cube of butter into the flour. Take a butter cube and a little flour and squash it. Repeat the same until all the butter is broken into fine pieces and the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Make a well in the center, add 1 tbsp of ice cold water. Use your hand as a whisk and mix the flour. Add another tbsp of cold water and mix well. Stop adding water if the dough clumps together. The dough should just hold together. 
4. Dust the working space with a little flour and knead the dough gently to make it smooth. Do not overdo.
5. Divide the dough into two portions (3/4 and 1/4), flatten it a bit and wrap it in a cling film and refrigerate it for few minutes.
The basic short crust pastry dough for the pie is ready. 

For the Filling:
1. Peel, core and cut the apples to small cubes. 
2. Add 1/2 tsp of lemon juice and mix well. 
3. Add brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, flour to the chopped apples and mix until well combined. Let it sit for 15 minutes.
4. Strain and collect the juice oozed out of the apple mixture.
5. Heat butter and add the juice. Stir on medium flame until it gets caramelized and slightly thick. 
6. Add it to the apple mixture and mix it well.
Our pie filling is ready.


For Apple pies:
1.Grease 2 small pie moulds well. 
Take 3/4 of the dough from the refrigerator.
Dust the working space with little flour and slightly Knead the dough. 
***Method 1
--Divide it into 2 equal balls. 
--In one pie mould, press one ball gently to the bottom and sides evenly to form the tart shape. The base should be 1/2 cm thick. Repeat the same for the other pie mould.
***Method 2
--After taking the dough from the fridge and kneading it, gently roll it to 1/2 cm thick slab using a rolling pin. 
--Using a cup larger than the size of the pie mould, cut out circles from the dough.
--Place it in the mould and press it gently with your fingers so that it sits well inside the cup. Remove any excess dough on the top edges neatly. Repeat the same for the other pie mould.
2. Then fill each mould with 3 - 4 tspns of apple pie filling. 
3. Preheat the oven at 180 C.
4. Take the remaining 1/4 of the dough from the refrigerator and roll it out thinly (1/4 cm thick).
5. Cut 1/2 cm width strips and length of the pie mould's diameter. Use the strips to create a hash pattern like weave. (2-3 strips horizontally and cross it with 2-3 strips vertically)
6. Tuck the ends neatly with the the bottom crust.  Instead of the hash pattern, you can also cover the pie with a smaller circle (with a cross slit in the center for the steam to escape) and tuck it with a fork joining the edges with the bottom crust. Repeat the same process for second mould. 
7. Brush the top with milk and butter mixture. 
8. Bake the pies for 30-35 minutes or until the crust is light brown. 
9. Remove the moulds from the oven, leave it to cool for 10-15 mins.
10. Finally remove the pies from the moulds. Cute Mini apple Pies are ready. 


Choco-licious Cake (Eggless)

Choco-licious Cake (Eggless) 

This is a sinful Choco-licious cake.😈 A recipe for all the choco-addicts out there... Like me. 😊

It's an easy-peasy cake with not so expensive ingredients but the best ever chocolate cakeπŸ‘Œ. 


My brother is a crazy fan of the movie πŸŽ₯ "Premam" and he always wanted me to try the 'rosettes' that appear on CafΓ¨ AgapΓ¨ Cakes 😊

So here it is... Tried out the Rosettes for my one n only sweet brotherπŸ‘«. 

My dear brother... This is for u😊. Hope I did a decent jobπŸ˜‰πŸ˜œ... “Doubt undengil parayanam!”πŸ˜†πŸ˜‰


Ingredients:

For cake:
Maida – 1 cup
Baking Powder – ½ tsp
Baking Soda – 1 tsp
Cocoa Powder – 6 tbsp
Powdered Sugar – ¾ cup
Vegetable oil – ½ cup
Hot Coffee – ¼ cup (1 tsp of coffee in ¼ cup hot water)
Milk – ¼ cup
Yogurt – ¼ cup
Vanilla essence – 1 tsp
Sugar syrup - 1/2 cup

For chocolate ganache (recipe adapted from Yummytummyaarthi ):
Dark Chocolate – 250 grams 
Unsalted Butter –  4.5 tbsp
Milk – 90 ml
Vanilla / rum essence - 1/2 tsp
Icing sugar (optional) - 3 tbsp


Method:

For ganache:
Take milk and butter in a sauce pan and heat it up. 
Bring this to a boil so that the butter melts.
Once the butter is melted switch off the flame. 
Add in chocolate, icing sugar and the essence. 
Using a whisk mix this slowly so that the chocolate melts.
Let the mix cool down. Use as desired.

For cake:
Preheat the oven to 180 C. 
Grease a 6 inch round cake tin and line with parchment paper.
In a bowl sift together all the dry ingredients. 
Then add all the wet ingredients one by one.
Whisk the mixture gently until the dry and wet ingredients are well combined. 
Pour the batter in the prepared cake tin. 
Bake for about 30 min or until done.
Remove from oven and let it cool for few minutes. 
Then remove the cake from the pan and let it cool completely before Frosting. 

For Frosting:
Trim the top and sides of the cake. 
Slice the cake into 2 layers horizontally. 
Sprinkle sugar syrup on top of one layer. Top it with chocolate ganache. 
Then place the second later on top and sprinkle sugar syrup. 
Smear and smooth the ganache on top and sides of the cake and decorate it as u like.

Note:
For this recipe, my 1 cup measures 240 ml. 


Modern Avvaiyaar


My son has been so obsessed with Avvaiyaar and her Aathichudi since he's been taught that in school. 

One day, I was sitting on the floor watching TV. He started dragging and pulling me saying "Mummy... Avvai pannu... Mummy... Avvai pannu". I didn't get what he was trying to say.  I just stood up so as to see what he was up to. Immediately he took my rajasthani-hand embroidered jhola bag and hung it on my left shoulder and stuffed a pen in my right hand. And jumped in joy, crying out "Avvaiyaar... Avvaiyaar" 

And there.... I was standing as Modern Avvaiyaar...  amazed by my son's gesture. 

Sunday 9 October 2016

Pretty Ladies from my Mom's garden 😊



Spent my son's vacation at Pondicherry, during the last week of SeptemberπŸšƒ. 
Now... How can I return without capturing the beauties from my Mom's garden🏑? ... That would definitely be an incomplete vacation... 😊 

So here comes the pretty ladies... 



They were all so cute 😍... Couldn't let it go with just one pic...  πŸ˜Š



All so lovely πŸ˜™... Aren't they?! 😊


Location: My Mom's garden, Pondicherry. 
Camera: Samsung Galaxy s5